In various communication and computer systems, redundancy of components is desirable, in order to maintain system functionality. For example, multiple redundant management servers may be provided to ensure the provision of features to client applications. Typically, each of the servers in a redundant system are associated with different Internet protocol or other addresses. Therefore, when a switch is made from one system manager to another, redundant system manager, for example due to a failure of the first system manager, the applications within the system that require communications with a system manager must be directed to the second, replacement system manager.
In previous systems, each application must detect the management server change, and then switch over to the new management server. This includes reconfiguring the individual applications to communicate with the replacement management server. As a result, individual applications must include this functionality, in order to adapt to a change in management servers.
An alternative practice is to provide a load balancer in front of the redundant system managers. In such a configuration, the load balancer detects the switch to the redundant management server and routes traffic addressed to the original system server to the replacement system server. However, this solution requires the addition of a load balancing server on the server side of the system, which increases the complexity and cost of the system.
Still other systems incorporate virtual server addresses. In such systems, when a switch is made to a replacement server, the replacement server assumes the virtual IP address of the original server. In particular, the virtual address is reassigned from the original server to the active, replacement server. However, this approach increases complexity on the server side.